Tuesday, April 9

This is the story of a woman who manages to transform her life

Adapted from Christine Angot’s novel, An Impossible Love is about a love story marred with class conflict and spans over decades starting from the 1950’s and the unconditional love between a mother and daughter. Following the screening of the film, which is featured in the Best of the Fests section, director Catherine Corsini answered audience questions.

What does the author of the book think about the film? Have you talked to her during the production of the film??
Christine is liked and disliked by many people. She has a show on TV, so she is subjected to a lot of criticism. She is a very strong character, so I wanted to stay away from her a little bit during production because I didn’t want her strong character to overshadow the film. The book tells her mother’s story. I showed the film to her and her mother. They really liked it. After that we became friendly. I can actually say that I dedicated this film to all women–my mother, my aunt, all women… Because back then and even today women have to deal with living in a male-dominated society. What we see in the film is a strong female character. The person at the start and the end of the film is not the same person. We see her character changing and transforming. This is the story of a woman who manages to survive and transform her life despite all those blows.

The man is a horrible person, but don’t you think the woman is also at fault?
There is a line in the book that says “this is our fault”, meaning both the man and woman. The child is like a prisoner, a hostage in that relationship. When I initially read the book I thought she should leave him, but it’s a very complicated relationship. And that’s how life is. We sometimes find ourselves tangled in preposterous relationships.

Click for further information about the film.

A contemporary Bonnie and Clyde story

Featured in the Young Masters section of the Festival, Blossom Valley is debut the feature of Hungarian director László Csuja. The film, which received the Jury Prize at Karlovy Vary, tells the story of wayward Bianca and intellectually disabled Laci who hit the road after kidnapping a baby. Following the screening at Cinemaximum City’s Nişantaşı, László Csuja answered audience questions.

What was the starting point of the film?
László Csuja: This is my first film. It took us 4 years to write the script. When we first started we had the idea of a boy stealing a baby as a present for his girlfriend. After that point we have decided that the film should be about a mentally challenged boy, a girl and a stolen baby. We discussed how they can form an instant family. It turned into a Bonnie and Clyde style lovers on the run film. It also resembles Terence Malick’s Badlands. The film is quite different than the script we initially wrote because we rewrote it after the casting process on the basis of the two main characters. I really liked Bianka’s audition and she made me believe that she could steal a baby, but not because she really wanted to have one. Bianka doesn’t know why she did that. She just acts on impulse. Maybe it’s a momentary desire, maybe it’s for joy.

When you introduced the film you mentioned “pursuit of happiness”. Can you elaborate on that?
László Csuja: We wanted to create two characters. The boy wants to be normal; He thinks that if he has a family, if he becomes a father he can have a normal life. For him happiness and family are closely related because according to the society he is not a responsible person. They both experience happiness momentarily. I think that’s a very human situation because happiness is attained and lost very easily. Both of these characters don’t think ahead, they just live in the present.

Click for further information about the film.

Production story: A Tale of Three Sisters

Director Emin Alper and producer Nadir Öperli of The Tale of Three Sisters which had its world premiered in the Main Competition section of the 68th Berlin Film Festival were guests on the third day of Meetings on the Bridge. Alper and Öperli shared many production anecdotes from fund searching to their trials and tribulations with weather conditions and answered audience questions.

Click for further information about the film.

Daily Film Selection:

José | 19.00 | Beyoğlu movie theatre
The Mountain | 19.00 | Cinemaximum Zorlu Center

Daily Documentary Selection:

A Dog Called Money | 19.00 | Rexx movie theatre
Beloved | 21.30 | Beyoğlu movie theatre